Just How Big Are the Pokies in Australia?

If you haven’t travelled too much outside of Australia, then you could be forgiven for not knowing just how much, compared to other countries, we love the pokies here. You probably know, though, that Aussies have a reputation around the world for loving a flutter – it’s a huge industry here, and there’s no doubting that the pokies are a big part of that. But just how big is that industry, and what part do pokies at casino resorts and at online casinos play in it?

Aussies Love a Bet…

Well, you possibly won’t be surprised to learn that Aussies gamble more per capita than any other country in the world. That’s right – we bet the most. It could be because we have so many iconic sporting occasions to bet on – the Melbourne Cup, for instance, or Saturday’s AFL grand final – or so much high-quality sport in general.

…And Especially a Pokie!

The pokies are a national pastime, according to recent statistics: 40% of Australian adults will play a pokie at some point in a given year, and there are half a million of us out there who enjoy a spin of a reel at least every week. It’s not as if they are difficult to find, either: there are some 200,000 pokie machines in the country, apparently, which is one for every hundred people or so. And then there are the online casinos – the top online casinos like 32Red and Gaming Club put hundreds of pokies at your fingertips at home on your PC or out and about on your mobile device.

A Multi-Billion Dollar Pokie Industry

So there are lots of pokies, and lots of Aussies keen to play on them, so what does that add up to? Australians spent some 20 billion dollars gambling in 2014 (which seems like a lot to us!), and about three quarters of that is down to the pokies, apparently. So it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry that’s as Australian as shrimp on the barbie – no wonder there’s so much media attention devoted to it. What we find interesting is that Aussie punters have a well-deserved reputation for being discerning customers: we’re just not going to spend our dollars on bad pokies or at bad online casinos. The fact that we seem to be spending so much tells us that there are lots of excellent pokies out there at excellent online casinos. And that we can confirm from our own experience – no statistics needed to tell us that!